Natsu and Lucy were dancing under the starts. They were finally married. Gildart had retired for the night and all of Lucy's Spirits, who attended the ceremony, returned to the Celestial World.
They both felt at peace and complete. Natsu was officially tied to his soul mate in every sense of the word. They were mated, she was carrying his child and now they were married in human terms. He felt like he could take on the entire world. He was happy, truly happy.
"What are you thinking about?" Lucy interrupted his thoughts.
"Just how lucky I am to have you in my life" Natsu leaned down and kissed her.
"You are such a goof!" Lucy giggled and lightly swatted his chest lightly.
"Hey!" he pouted.
"If it helps, I am pretty happy too Mr. Dragneel" She stood up on her toes and kissed him.
"Mrs. Dragneel" He purred.
He picked her up and carried her indoors, to their bedroom. Natsu placed her on their bed and chanted a spell to sound proof their bedroom.
Lucy quizzically looked at him.
"Things are about to get loud" He grinned salaciously, making Lucy blush from head to toe.
Elsewhere...
Lisanna was sentenced for using black magic, crimes against the guild and for attempted murder. She got a life sentence.
She was seething with rage. 'This isn't over. I will get what I want! Lucy will die and Natsu will watch me do it. How dare he chose her over me!"
She was completely in her world, ignoring the chatter along the corridors. She was being taken to a jail cell. It was only temporary; in a few days she would be moved to a psychiatric facility.
She was rudely pushed into her cell. She simply scowled at the guards. She dusted herself off the ground and went to lie on the cot.
As the guards were walking away, she overheard Doranbolt and Lahar speaking.
"Now that she's behind bars, hopefully Dragneel and his mate can now have their peace"
"Yeah, being on the run can't be good on the baby"
"Any news as to when she is due?"
"According to Wendy, she still has a few months left"
Lisanna was in tears.
"They already mated... she is pregnant?" she whispered to herself.
"NO! NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOOO!" She started shouting.
"How could he do this to me! I was supposed to be his mate, I was supposed to be carrying that child!" She was punching the walls.
All this commotion had Lahar and Doranbolt running back to her cell. Doranbolt teleported inside the cell to detain her, Lahar then entered and sedated her. She immediately passed out. They laid her on her bed and locked her cell again.
All night she kept dreaming of killing Lucy and her bastard child. She will escape and exact her revenge. Knowing that by killing Lucy, she would also be killing Natsu.
'If I can't have him, than neither can she'
A few days had passed and the newlyweds were back home in Magnolia.
"What do you mean you got married?" Erza yelled at them. Mira was crying because she missed out on the wedding planning.
"Please don't be mad. We just wanted to do something small and private, for us. Besides, you were all so busy with capturing Lisanna" Lucy tried to calm the ladies, while Happy and Wendy were trying to wake Natsu up. Erza punched him when they found out that they got married and he was now lying unconscious on the ground.
"I am sorry Mira. If it helps, we didn't have a reception." Lucy tried to console the Demon-Matchmaker.
"YES! I WILL PLAN THE GREATEST WEDDING RECEPTION THERE EVER WAS!" She yelled, scaring everyone in the guild.
Natsu finally woke up and pretty angry with Erza.
"What the hell Erza?"
"It serves you right for getting married without us!" She retorted and went back to eating her cake.
"Come on, let's go home. I am pretty tired from the trip," Lucy said, trying to distract him from staring up a fight at the guild.
Natsu grabbed her hand and headed home with his wife. Happy decided to stay at the guild with the other Exceeds.
It was late evening and the happy couple were both in bed. They were enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. Natsu had cuddled up to Lucy, his head resting on her baby bump; she was 7 months now. He suddenly sat up and had this weird look in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Lucy was startled.
Natsu's unreadable expression changed to a softer one, his eyes started to water. Lucy was getting worried, before she could say anything, he interrupted her with a kiss.
When he finally broke apart, Natsu was rubbing his hand over her belly.
"I heard our son's heartbeat," he whispered.
Lucy remained silent, slowly, a smile creped up her face.
"Our son is going to be strong," He said.
"Oh course he will, he is a Dragneel after all," She said.
Natsu kissed her again and wrapped his arms around her and settled for the night. They both went to bed with content smiles on their faces.
Two months had passed and Lucy was now expecting to go into labour at any moment. They decided to postpone the reception until after she gives birth. Lucy was getting fussy; she wanted Ryu out, now!
Much to Natsu's dismay, they were at the guild today. Lucy was fed up with being at home all the time with an overbearing Natsu. While she appreciated him dotting on her all the time, she missed her friends and needed a change of scenery. She was currently chatting with Levy and Cana while Natsu was fighting with Gray and Gajeel.
Suddenly, Lucy felt this painful cramp in her lower abdomen.
"Are you ok Lucy?" Cana asked.
"Yeah, my son has been quite rowdy since the morning" Lucy explained, wincing again as she felt a cramp.
"The apple doesn't fall from the tree it seems" Levy joked.
"Ahhhhh!" Lucy keeled over. Natsu immediately rushed to her side.
"Luce, what's wrong? Is the baby ok?" Natsu was panicking.
As he was about to have her sit down again, he slipped and fell on his back.
"Who spilled water?" Natsu grumbled in annoyance.
"That's not any kind of water Natsu-San" Wendy interrupted.
"Oh my god! Lucy's water broke!" Mira yelled.
The entire guild was now in frenzy, running around in panic.
"What do I do? What do I do?" Natsu was freaking out. He was not prepared for Lucy going into labour now.
Lucy was in excruciating pain; tears were streaming down her face and she was burning up. Natsu was the only one able to go near her and carry her upstairs to the infirmary. Once he laid her the bed, he allowed Gray to come in and cool her down by creating ice packs and placing them on her forehead.
Porlyusica finally arrived and kicked everyone out of the room with the exception of Natsu and Wendy.
Lucy was in labour for several hours. The guild was dead silent, waiting for news, after Lucy's screaming and Natsu's occasional yelps of pain; they finally heard the loud cries of a newborn baby.
They entire guild sighed in relief. They were overjoyed with the latest addition to their family.
Porlyusica and Wendy descended the stairs.
"Lucy-san is resting now and Natsu-san is holding his son. They need some time alone right now. They are all very happy, healthy and very tired" Wendy announced.
They entire guild erupted in cheers, only to be quickly silenced by a stern Erza.
"There is a sleeping baby upstairs!" She scolded.
Upstairs, Natsu was walking around, lightly bouncing his boy. Ryu was a splitting image of his father. A thick tuff if pink hair, tanned skin, he had his mother's eyes though. Natsu felt immense pride swell inside him. He carried his son and played him in the crib next to Lucy's bed.
Lucy was fast asleep; she was exhausted. After placing his son in crib, he crawled into Lucy's bed and cuddled up to her.
"Thank you Luce" he whispered before falling asleep.
Downstairs, a frantic Doranbolt storming into the guild interrupted the party. Makarov walked up to him.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
They all got this sick feeling in their stomachs. What Doranbolt said next made their nightmares come true.
"Lisanna escaped and she knows about the child."